Vehicle navigation apparatus

Abstract

A vehicle navigation apparatus determines whether or not the currently traveled route having a current vehicle position matches with estimated routes after determining, on the basis of the traveled route history, the estimated routes which correspond to destination candidates. Then, the navigation apparatus further determines whether or not the subsequent portion of the estimated route overlaps with other estimated route, for selecting one of the destination candidates. The vehicle navigation apparatus thus selects the destination candidate, in a highly accurate manner in terms of user preference, based on the traveled route history.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]The present application is based on and claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-170439, filed on Jun. 30, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present disclosure generally relates to a vehicle navigation apparatus having a map-matching function and a history recording function.BACKGROUND ART[0003]The vehicle navigation apparatus, when operated by an occupant of the vehicle through operation interface such as an operation switch, a remote controller or the like, sets a destination in the apparatus, searches for a route to reach the destination, and warns a driver / occupant of the vehicle that a traffic congestion is expected on the searched route together with a display of an alternative route that avoids the traffic congestion. The driver of the vehicle, however, does not always operate the operation interface of the navigation system for setting the destin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]In view of the above and other problems, the present disclosure provides a vehicle navigation apparatus that achieves an improved usability by estimating in an accurate manner a desired destination of a travel without employing a complicated process when a driver / occupant of the vehicle does not set the destination of the travel through user interface.

[0008]By devising the above-described operation scheme, the traveled route history is used to determine the estimated routes corresponding to the destination candidates in the vehicle navigation system, instead of using the travel frequency to the destination, and the currently traveled route having the current vehicle position located thereon is examined in terms of matching with the estimated route. Further, when the currently traveled route is matching with the estimated route, overlapping of a subsequent section of the estimated route, which is extending from the current vehicle position to the destination candidate, with other estimated routes is examined, for the purpose of narrowing the scope of the destination candidates, thereby enabling a determination of a user-desired destination in an accurate manner without employing a complicated estimation process for estimating the travel purpose in association with currently traveled route. That is, the navigation apparatus attains an improved usability without, for example, increasing a production cost.

Problems solved by technology

The driver of the vehicle, however, does not always operate the operation interface of the navigation system for setting the destination, because it may be bothering for the driver / occupant to explicitly setting a frequented destination of daily travel.

However, if the destination candidate is determined, as described in the above disclosure, based on the current vehicle position and the destination reach rate from that position, the destination candidate that is less frequented cannot be selected and determined as user-desired destination, thereby giving the user an impression of less probable and enabling operation scheme.

Further, the estimation of travel purpose requires a complicated process, thereby making it difficult for the apparatus to implement it.

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